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Aviation History
1995
1995 - 0061.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Cambodia International threatens court action after abrupt halt Row shadows start of new Cambodian line Tupolev to collect Russian approval for Tu-204 airliner T UPOLEV IS DUE to receive formally its Russian type certificate for the Tu-204 after winning certification on 29 December, 1994. Protocol issues have postponed the presentation until 10 January, but the delay means that the manu facturer is still uncertain whether, as it suspects, the certification will include a restriction on the type's Perm PS-90A engine-life. Nevertheless, the approval finally gives Tupolev the opportu nity to prove in the marketplace what is by far Russia's most advanced medium-haul airliner. The manufacturer claims 268 "soft orders" which, it explains, are commitments from carriers which it has declined to "harden up" contractually before certifi cation is granted. Vnukovo Airlines has already acquired three aircraft and will also take numbers 11-13. Rossiya has two and is taking numbers 14 and 15; while Orielavia has received three and is the cus tomer for numbers 8-10. Other early customers, with order sizes, include St Petersburg (three); Kazakhstan (three); Uz bekistan (three); and Avia- star/Volga Dnepr (one). Production plans call for 34-36 aircraft to be built at the Ulyanovsk manufacturing plant. A second line has opened at the Kazan plant, however, and the first aircraft from that line had been due to have its first flight early this month. It is still possible that the type could become the first CIS jet air liner to be bought outside die for mer Soviet sphere of influence. UK-based CanAvia CTA says that it has half-paid for two aircraft, pending certification. CanAvia head Harry Hawthorne is due in Moscow this month to progress the deal. He says: "We have willing parties for those aircraft; but not until they know they can go in and power the aircraft up." The type is, however, a long way from Western certification and it is unlikely that it could be used routinely on scheduled pas senger operations in the West. U PAUL LEWIS/SINGAPORE CAMBODIA International Airlines (CIA) is threatening legal action over the Cambodian Government's order for it to cease operations and hand over routes to newly relaunched national car rier Royal Air Cambodge (RAC). The Thai-owned airline says that it was given 24h notice to stop services on 24 December, invalidating some 35,000 book ings and stranding 3,500 paid pas sengers around the region. Smaller operators SK Air and Kampuchea Airlines were also forced to shut down. At the same time, Malaysian Helicopter Services (MHS) has taken a 40% stake in RAC, in the latest of a series of major air-trans port acquisitions. MHS, which holds a controlling 32% share in Malaysia Airlines (MAS), signed a joint-venture agreement with the Cambodian Government on 28 December. The remaining 60% of Phnom Penh-based RAC is owned by the Government. Under the MHS deal, MAS will provide RAC with management and sales support, and a leased Boeing 737-400. The airline's first service was on 2 January between Phnom Penh and Kuala Lumpur. RAC has been given a monopoly on international and domestic ser vices. CIA argues that, as the Government revoked its operating licence, it is therefore responsible for its stranded passengers and wants compensation for its Si2 million investment. "We're looking into legal action, probably in the Singapore courts," says the airline. It also accuses the Government of reneging on pledges to respect CIAs three-year-old agreement with Cambodia's former interim government and to let it keep flying. The Government has refused to take responsibility for compen sating CIA passengers, claiming that the company was warned in early 1993 that its licence would be revoked once RAC was re launched. At the time, Cambodia was negotiating a joint venture for RAC with Singapore Airlines, but failed to reach an agreement. CIA claims that, as late as 18 December, 1994, the Cambodian Government had told the Taiwanese authorities that it would be the designated carrier on the planned start-up service between Phnom Penh and Taipei. "When something like that hap pens, you think you've an on going business," says CIA official Jeff Swain. CIA had planned to launch a service to Japan in April and had just completed the purchase of two more Boeing 727-200s. 3 NEWS IN BRIEF M POWER FOR ILFC International Lease Finance (ILFC) has chosen General Electric/Snecma CFM56- 5A/Bs, worth more than $300 million, to power 23 firm and nine optioned Airbus A319s, A320s and A321s (Flight International, 4-10 January). The remaining seven firm and one optioned Airbus will be powered by IAE's V2500. • FEDEX MD-11 LEASE Express-parcel carrier Fed Ex has agreed to lease two additional General Electric CF6-80C2 -powered Mc Donnell Douglas MD-1 IF freighters for delivery in late 1995, bringing its MD-11 fleet to 15 aircraft. • EASTWEST SERVICE Germany's newest carrier, Erfurt-based Eastwest Air lines, has begun a five- times-weekly direct service from Berlin Tempelhof to Rotterdam. From 9 January, the airline is operating a Dornier 328 turboprop ser vice from Monday to Friday — the only direct air link between the two cities. • ATC START-UP Mexico City's air-traffic-con trol (ATC) centre has been inaugurated. The Thomson- CSF-supplied Eurocat 2000 system is part of a major con tract awarded in 1993, under which a further four centres are scheduled to be opened in the next 18 months.The Mexico City system will receive and process data from eight radars, and provide en route and approach control for the airports at Mexico City and Toluca. • MD-82 FOR KOREAN AIR Korean Air has ordered another McDonnell Douglas MD-82, for delivery in December 1995. The airline already operates eight Pratt & Whitney PW8D-217- powered MD-82s and has two more of the 155-seat twinjet on order for delivery in July 1995. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 11 - 17 January 1995 11
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